The One She Called
by Serena Thorn
Summary: After the crash, Juliet decided there was only one person she could call. This is an extended version.


Title: The One She Called  
>Summary: After the crash, Juliet decided there was only one person she could call. This is an extended version.<br>Rating: PG-13  
>Spoilers: 1x07<br>Warnings: Canon underage drinking and driving  
>Word Count: 1324<br>Disclaimer: Ringer is not owned by me, but by The CW, etc. I'm simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.  
>AN: This scene should have been longer imo. So, I decided to make it so. 

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><p>After the crash, Juliet's thoughts had first gone to her friend. Making sure Monica was safe and that she herself wasn't hurt. So far everything except for the car seemed fine. Save for Monica's stupor at least.<p>

Not looking forward to the yelling that was sure to come from her father, Juliet decided there was only one other person she could call. Someone who wouldn't yell, who wouldn't scream, who wouldn't threaten to send her back to her mother or boot camp. Instead, she hoped, someone who's first thought wouldn't be on the car or the cost to repair the damages. Someone who would actually care enough to be more worried about her than a stupid hunk of metal.

Trust wasn't a word she used lightly, especially not these days. But she decided it was much more likely she could trust him to be that person instead of her father.

As for how she had even gotten his number, well, he really should have known better than to keep his phone hidden a little better during class. Something had told her she would likely have use of it though, so she decided to keep it in her phone just in case.

Sure enough, now that she and Monica had gotten a safe enough distance from the car and were seated on those steps, she scrolled through her phone's list for his number. Only then when she was shaking so badly from the shock and the cold did she regret listing his number in her phone as the name of a restaurant that didn't even exist. After knowing her step-mother had gone through her bedroom those weeks ago she knew she couldn't trust her or Andrew to not go through her phone if they felt like it at some point and she just wanted to avoid any questions should they find her new English teacher's number in there so easily. Not with the accusations that they would likely come up with.

"Where are you?" Mr. Carpenter had asked Juliet once she had told him it was an emergency. Clearly she wasn't okay, but she had also managed to call him so he didn't ask that pointless question. Instead he was already getting his shoes on and grabbing his car keys even as she told him where to find her and her friend.

In the meantime Juliet watched the cars going by, only getting nervous when she saw a police cruiser roll to a stop near the car and turn their rolling lights on.

The next several minutes were a blur, how she and Monica weren't in handcuffs Juliet guessed she could thank her father's name for. It was when one of the officers had begun to survey the scene and the other went over to try to talk to Monica that she spotted the dark sedan coming to a stop just across the way. She had been so sure that Mr. Carpenter wouldn't freak out on her like she knew her father would when she called him. But what if she had been wrong? What if his first words when he reached her were him yelling about how careless and stupid she had been? She didn't need anyone to tell her she had been either, not when she knew it already and was already regretting it. This was what she got for trying to help the only friend she had left.

"What happened?" Mr. Carpenter asked when she had met him halfway from the curb where she had been standing.

"Car accident," she told him, as though he couldn't see it for himself. "My friend was too drunk to drive, but kept saying how she needed to get the car back to her parents' place, so..."

"Was she driving?" Just how bad was this going to get? He could see the cops, another car rolling up presumably to begin directing traffic. But the lack of an ambulance was as close to comforting as he guessed it could be.

Juliet shook her head. "I was."

He still couldn't figure out why she had called him, but he couldn't see her father around. And that was when it struck him. Juliet had called him. Not her father. But him. He didn't even want to think about why. Instead, he just asked, "Have the police called your father yet?"

Juliet shook her head again. "I told them he was out of town, that I'd called a friend instead."

Mr. Carpenter sighed. After Juliet's first day he'd had an idea he might need to keep Mr. Martin's number handy. "How about you go check on your friend for a minute?"

"You're going to call him, aren't you?"

"Not because I want to," he admitted. He hated seeing that look in Juliet's eyes as she began to turn back towards the steps. Sadness, even a little fear and a hint of betrayal. But what else could he do? Andrew would find out sooner rather than later anyway and since Juliet had called him it wasn't like he could just turn around and go back home. He was involved now and without a second thought he reached for his phone and called Andrew.

"How'd he sound?" Juliet asked when Mr. Carpenter came over to wait with them.

"Worried. Upset. Pretty much the way you'd expect your father to react, I guess."

"Thank you," she told him even if she really wished he hadn't called her father. But at least he hadn't made her do it. Though it was a small comfort, but she knew it was best to take what ever comfort she could get in those moments.

Mr. Carpenter only nodded.

It didn't get any easier when Andrew did finally get there. Mr. Carpenter tried talking to him first, even trying to get him to see a different perspective of the night's events. He knew he didn't have the full story and Juliet was hardly in a state to give it to him. But he knew it was still better to not freak her out even worse.

Only Andrew had gotten angry with him, forcing him to tell him that Juliet had called him first. And with that he knew it would be best to leave. He was getting way too caught up in this, hating what he knew Juliet was sure to be in for. But he also knew he couldn't stop it, nor could he bring himself to stay and watch it unfold. He didn't even say goodbye or goodnight to Juliet, didn't even wave. Just held his hoodie closer to his body and headed back towards his car.

Juliet wanted to cry when she got back home. The crash wasn't enough, the yelling wasn't enough, now she had been cut off, barred from seeing her last remaining friend ever again and she doubted the teacher who had already stood up for her once wouldn't even look at her the same. No way was this conducive to that fresh start she had been so desperate for.

Only what she didn't know, and what Mr. Carpenter was reflecting on when he got back to his own home, was that he had now tried to stand up for her a second time with her father. And none of them could change that he was the one she called first, he was the one she had trusted to help her. Whether with the police or her father or even a potential ride home. Would anyone have called Andrew if he hadn't? He doubted it.

Before they both could finally decide to call it a night, even across town, they both knew that at least the next school day was sure to be interesting. No one else would know, but he would make it a point to know that she was still okay. And she would be sure to be her most convincing when she lied and said she was.

The End


End file.
